Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang (17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a Chinese politician. He served as the premier of China from 1980 to 1987, as vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1982, and as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1987 to 1989. He was in charge of the political reforms in China from 1986, but lost power for his support of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

Zhao joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in February 1938. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he served as the chief officer of CCP Hua County Committee, Director of the Organization Department of the CCP Yubei Prefecture Party Committee, Secretary of the CCP Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region Prefecture Party Committee and Political Commissar of the 4th Military Division of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region. During the Chinese Civil War of 1945–1949, Zhao served as the Deputy Political Commissar of Tongbai Military Region, Secretary of the CCP Nanyang Prefecture Party Committee and Political Commissar of Nanyang Military Division.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Zhao became Deputy Secretary of the South China Branch of the CCP Central Committee. He also served as Secretary of the Secretariat of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CCP, Second Secretary and First Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CCP. He was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and spent time in political exile. After being rehabilitated, Zhao then was appointed Secretary of the CCP Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee, First Secretary of the CCP Guangdong Provincial Committee, First Secretary of the CCP Sichuan Provincial Committee and First Political Commissar of the Chengdu Military Region, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

As a senior government official, Zhao was critical of Maoist policies and instrumental in implementing free-market reforms, first in Sichuan and subsequently nationwide. He emerged on the national scene due to support from Deng Xiaoping after the Cultural Revolution. An advocate of the privatization of state-owned enterprises, the separation of the party and the state, and reform and opening up, he sought measures to streamline China's bureaucracy and fight corruption and issues that challenged the party's legitimacy in the 1980s. Many of these views were shared by the then CCP general secretary Hu Yaobang.

His economic reform policies and sympathies with student demonstrators during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 placed him at odds with some members of the party leadership, including Central Advisory Commission Chairman Chen Yun, CPPCC Chairman Li Xiannian, and Premier Li Peng. Zhao also began to lose favor with Deng Xiaoping, who was the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. In the aftermath of the events, Zhao was purged politically and effectively placed under house arrest for the rest of his life. After his house arrest, he became much more radical in his political beliefs, supporting China's full transition to liberal democracy. He died from a stroke in Beijing in January 2005. Because of his political fall from grace, he was not given the funeral rites generally accorded to senior Chinese officials. His secret memoirs were smuggled out and published in English and in Chinese in 2009, but the details of his life remain censored in China.

Early career

thumb|left|Zhao (top left) pictured with [[Mao Zedong in Wuhan, January 1966]]

Zhao was born in 1919 as Zhao Xiuye (), but changed his given name to "Ziyang" while attending middle school in Wuhan. He was the son of a wealthy landlord in Hua County, Henan, who was later murdered by CCP officials during a land reform movement in the early 1940s. and became a full member of the Party in 1938.

Unlike many Party members active in the 1930s and 1940s who later became senior Chinese leaders, Zhao joined the Party too late to have participated in the Long March of 1934–1935. He served in the People's Liberation Army, which was integrated into the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the subsequent civil war, but his posts were largely administrative. Zhao's career was not especially notable before he emerged as a Party leader in Guangdong in the early 1950s. Jasper Becker, however, wrote that Zhao's torture campaign during the Great Leap meant he was partially responsible for the millions of people who died from starvation and malnutrition in Guangdong between 1958 and 1961. He was 46 at the time that he first became Party secretary, a notably young age to hold such a prestigious position.

Economic reforms in Sichuan

Zhao was appointed Party Secretary of Sichuan in 1975, The economic situation was so dire that citizens in Sichuan were reportedly selling their daughters for food.

During his tenure in Sichuan, Zhao introduced a series of successful market-oriented reforms, which distributed farmland to families for private use, and allowed peasants to freely sell their crops on the marketplace. His policies also permitted greater autonomy and productivity incentives for factory managers. Zhao's reforms led to a rapid increases in both agricultural and light-industrial production throughout the 1980s, but his economic reforms were criticized for causing inflation. Zhao promoted an open foreign policy, improving China's relations with Western nations in order to support China's economic development. Wham!'s 1985 visit, engineered by the band's manager Simon Napier-Bell, was a highly publicized cultural exchange and seen as a major step in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West.

In the 1980s, Zhao was branded by conservatives as a revisionist of Marxism, but his advocacy of government transparency and a national dialogue that included ordinary citizens in the policymaking process made him popular with many. Zhao was a fan of golf, and is credited with popularizing the game's reintroduction to the mainland in the 1980s.

While Zhao focused on economic reforms during the early 1980s, his superior, Hu Yaobang, promoted a number of political reforms. In the late 1980s Hu and Zhao collaborated to promote a series of large-scale political reforms with vaguely defined goals. The political reforms of Hu and Zhao included proposals to have candidates directly elected to the Politburo, more elections with more than one candidate, more government transparency, more consultation with the public on policy, and increased personal responsibility directed to officials for their mistakes. After Hu's dismissal, Deng promoted Zhao to replace Hu as CCP general secretary, putting Zhao in the position to succeed Deng as "paramount leader". Zhao's vacated premiership was in turn filled by Li Peng, a conservative who opposed many of Zhao's economic and political reforms.

At the 13th National Party Congress in 1987, Zhao declared that China was in "a primary stage of socialism" that could last 100 years. Under this premise, Zhao believed that China needed to experiment with a variety of economic reforms in order to stimulate production. In Zhao's view, developing a state civil service separate from the Party would enhance bureaucratic efficiency, professionalism, and correct what he deemed as Party "overinterference" in state administration.

The 13th Congress was also notable because no women were elected to the Politburo and Central Committee secretariat; according to Zhao, the results "[did not] mean [the party leadership had] adjusted [their] policies on women." According to Ellen Judd, members of women's organizations, including the All-China Women's Federation, attributed the reduced number of women in lower party positions to "open comments" by Zhao against female political participation. The number of women occupying leadership positions at various party levels had been declining since the latter half the 1970s. In 1984, with his support, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou became experimental cities of a joint-stock system; however, some companies only issued stock to their workers. In November 1985, the first share-issuing enterprise was established in Shanghai and publicly issued 10,000 shares of 50 RMB par value stock, which attracted investors. Zhao hosted a financial meeting on 2 August 1986, calling for the joint stock system to be implemented nationwide in the following year.

Zhao played a major role in the approach to price liberalization and the question of whether China should adopt a sudden price liberalization approach akin to shock therapy or a more gradual model. "Confronted with the diverse, authoritative warnings about the unforeseeable risks of imposing the shock of price reform and the uncertainty about its benefits" he ultimately rejected shock price reform. Zhao had accepted the argument that the basic concern in economic reform was energizing enterprises. By late summer of 1986, what started under the rubric of "coordinated comprehensive package reform" had been diluted to an adjustment in the price of steel (although its price was both important and carried symbolic weight) as well as partial tax and financial reform. Zhao's reform program in 1987 and early 1988 focused on combining enterprise contracting and a coastal development strategy.

Zhao's proposed in May 1988 to accelerate price reform, which was formalized in August. News of the reform led to widespread complaints about rampant inflation and panic buying, giving opponents of rapid reform the opportunity to call for greater centralization of economic controls and stricter prohibitions against Western influence. This precipitated a political debate, which grew more heated through the winter of 1988 to 1989. The price reform was shelved, and its failure greatly weakened the authority of Zhao.

Relationship with party elders

Because Zhao had risen to power through his work in the provinces, he never enjoyed strong connections among the Party leadership in Beijing. Because he had led the Communist Youth League in the 1950s, Zhao often relied on its former members for support, and Zhao's enemies accused him of promoting a "Communist Youth League faction" within the CCP. Among Beijing's Party elders, Chen Yun and Li Xiannian were notably critical of Zhao and his policies.

Tiananmen Square protests

Zhao was general secretary for little more than a year before the death of Hu Yaobang on 15 April 1989, which, coupled with a growing sense of public outrage caused by high inflation and economic uncertainty, provided the backdrop for the large-scale protest of 1989 by students, intellectuals, and other parts of a disaffected urban population. The Tiananmen protests initially began as a spontaneous public mourning for Hu, but evolved into nationwide protests supporting political reform and demanding an end to Party corruption. Ironically, some of the original invective was also directed against Zhao. Party hard-liners increasingly came to the conclusion that the demonstrations were due to Zhao's rapid pace of reform, which they believed caused a sense of confusion and frustration among college students. The protesters may have also been encouraged by the imminent collapse of other Communist governments in Eastern Europe. notably including Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Deng eventually decided on declaring martial law. According to the Tiananmen Papers, the standing committee vote was split 2–2 with one abstention, and retired CCP veterans were called in to determine the vote. According to Zhao however, there was no vote, and the decision to declare martial law was illegal according to the Party's rules. Below is a translated version:

After a bow, people began to applaud and some students burst into tears. That was Zhao's last public appearance, for Zhao had been ousted by party elders just before coming to the square. The phrase "We are already old, and do not matter" () and Zhao's speech, have since become a well known part of the protests. What motivated Zhao's visit remains, even today, a topic of debate. According to Wu Guoguang, Zhao's former speechwriter, some say he went into the square hoping a conciliatory gesture would gain him leverage against hard-liners like Premier Li Peng. Others believe he supported the protesters and misjudged the risk of breaking with the leadership.

Aftermath

The protesters did not disperse. A day after Zhao's 19 May visit to Tiananmen Square, Premier Li Peng publicly declared martial law, leading to the deaths of hundreds of protesters on the 4th of June. At the same day, Deng held another meeting with senior leaders, where he decided to remove Zhao as General Secretary, replacing him with Jiang Zemin.

Around two weeks later, from 19 to 21 June, an enlarged meeting of the Politburo was held to make decisions on the upcoming Fourth Plenum of the 13th Central Committee. The meeting included the Party's most influential elders, and aimed to shape the government's response to the events of 4 June, by consolidating support for the armed crackdown and removing Zhao from office. Participants were invited to display their loyalty to Deng by endorsing two documents: Deng's 9 June speech which justified the use of military force, and a report issued by Li Peng criticizing Zhao's handling of the crisis. Zhao was also allowed to leave his home on 20 June to speak in his own defense. Zhao acknowledged "shortcomings, errors, and mistakes" in his work, but defended his economic work, and refused to accept that he "supported the unrest" and "split the party". He also called for political reforms to remain a priority. Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong attacked Zhao by saying "I feel that Comrade Ziyang is making excuses".

Party hardliners that had opposed Zhao's reforms took the opportunity to criticize him, with elder Wang Zhen stating that Zhao lacked ideological toughness and was bringing China closer to the West. Zhao likewise received no support from his political allies, who wanted forgiveness from the leadership. Hu Qili, who was then a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, acknowledged he had sided with Zhao in opposing martial law, but said that Deng's 9 June speech made him realize his "thinking was not clear in the face of great issues of right and wrong affecting the Party's and the state's future and fate". The full details of this meeting were not made public until 2019, when transcripts from the meeting were published by New Century Press in Hong Kong, who had obtained copies from a party official. Zhao was subsequently placed under house arrest, but was allowed to maintain his party membership. In the end, mentioning his name in the media was severely restricted, and he was airbrushed from photographs and deleted from textbooks.

Zhao's rival, Li Peng, later accused Zhao of fomenting the Tiananmen Protests exclusively for political gain. According to Li, "Zhao liaised with Bao Tong immediately after his arrival in Beijing (from Pyongyang). Bao gathered some other of Zhao's supporters to hash out the situation. They feared that Zhao's political future was at stake: Zhao did not succeed in [managing] the economy, was not stellar politically, does not have a power base of his own, and his son was suspected of illegal business dealings. As such, it was likely that Zhao would become the 'scapegoat' of the student movement. These advisors suggested to Zhao that he maintain distance with Deng Xiaoping [and] attempt to win the people's hearts in order to save himself; there were no other options." Because Zhao was never formally charged with any wrongdoing, Supplied by the Beijing government, the Hutong residence had once belonged to a hairdresser of the Qing Dynasty Empress Dowager Cixi, The home was a traditional siheyuan, with three courtyards. The front courtyard consisted of an office and sleeping room, and was occupied with guards. Zhao's study was in the second courtyard, while the innermost courtyard housed the living quarters, where Zhao lived with his wife and his daughter's family.

Zhao remained under tight supervision, and was reportedly locked in his home with a bicycle lock. According to Hong Kong-based ', Deng considered Zhao neither a "party splittist" nor a "supporter of the upheaval", telling Zhao that his record was 70% good and 30% bad, similar to Deng's own situation under Mao in 1976. Zhao died on 17 January in a Beijing hospital at 07:01, at the age of 85. He was survived by his second wife, Liang Boqi, and five children (a daughter and four sons). In order to manage the news of Zhao's death, the Chinese government created an "Emergency Response Leadership Small Group", which declared "a period of extreme sensitivity", and placed the People's Armed Police on special alert. In order to prevent any mass demonstrations in the capital, the Emergency Group directed the Ministry of Railways to screen travellers headed to Beijing. In order to prevent any public commemoration of Zhao, Chinese authorities increased security in Tiananmen Square and at Zhao's house. Security was also increased at universities in Beijing, with faculty members being told to monitor their students to prevent demonstrations. At the time, most university students that were interviewed by The New York Times knew very little about Zhao, which was linked to government censorship and restrictions on political speech. Chinese Internet forums, including the Strong Nation Forum and forums hosted by SINA.com, Xinhua, and the People's Daily,

In Hong Kong, 10,000–15,000 people attended a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Zhao, organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

International response

Similar memorials were held around the world, notably in New York City and Washington, DC where American government officials and exiled political dissidents attended.

In New York City, a public memorial for Zhao was organized by Human Rights in China, a New York-based non-governmental organization. The event was held on 20 January 2005, in the basement of the Sheraton Hotel in Flushing, Queens.

Funeral and burial

thumb|Zhao Ziyang's final burial site in 2019, with his son on the right.

On 29 January 2005, the government held a funeral ceremony for him at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, a place reserved for revolutionary heroes and high government officials, that was attended by some 2,000 mourners, who were pre-approved to attend. Several dissidents, including Zhao's secretary Bao Tong and Tiananmen Mothers leader Ding Zilin, were kept under house arrest and therefore could not attend. Xinhua reported that the most senior official to attend the funeral was Jia Qinglin, fourth in the party hierarchy, and other officials who attended included He Guoqiang, Wang Gang and Hua Jianmin. In October 2019, Zhao was finally laid to rest at the Tianshouyuan cemetery north of Beijing. Three months later, on the 15th anniversary of Zhao's death, his son reported tightened security at the cemetery, with the addition of facial recognition surveillance cameras, ID checks and security guards patrolling Zhao's grave. A tree was also planted in front of the grave, obstructing access to it.

Legacy

Push for rehabilitation

After Zhao's death, there were a number of calls in the PRC and abroad urging the PRC to reconsider Zhao's role in history. Within mainland China, these calls were largely led by Zhao's former secretary, Bao Tong. Outside of mainland China, Zhao's death produced calls from the governments of Taiwan and Japan urging the PRC to move toward granting the greater political freedoms that Zhao promoted. The White House praised Zhao, saying that Zhao "was a man of moral courage who suffered great personal sacrifices for standing by his convictions during difficult times."

Although some of his followers have occasionally attempted to push for Zhao's formal rehabilitation since Zhao's arrest, the Party has been largely successful in removing his name from most public records available in China. These efforts expanded to Chinese online encyclopedia Baidu Baike, which did not have an entry for Zhao. This lasted until February 2012, when the page was unblocked for unknown reasons; according to World Journal, the page received over 2 million visits in a day, before it was blocked again.

Since 1989, one of the few publications that has printed a non-government-approved memorial praising Zhao's legacy has been Yanhuang Chunqiu, a magazine which released a pro-Zhao article in July 2010. The article was written by Zhao's former aide, Yang Rudai.

Memoirs

On 14 May 2009, a published edition of Zhao's memoirs was released to the public, under the English title Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang. The 306-page book was crafted over four years from tapes recorded in secret by Zhao while under house arrest. In the last chapter, Zhao praises the Western system of parliamentary democracy and says it is the only way China can solve its problems of corruption and a growing gap between the rich and poor.

Zhao's published autobiography is based on approximately thirty cassette tapes which Zhao secretly recorded between 1999 and 2000. According to Zhao's friend and former co-worker, Du Daozheng, Zhao only recorded the tapes after being convinced by his friends to do so. The material in his biography was largely consistent with the information from the "Tiananmen Papers", an unauthorized collection of Chinese government documents published in 2001. The book was also consistent with material from "Captive Conversations", a record of conversations between Zhao and his friend Zong Fengming, which was published only in Chinese.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Video of Zhao's 19 May speech to Tiananmen protesters
Zhao Ziyang. Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Trans & Ed. Bao Pu, Renee Chiang, and Adi Ignatius. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2009. .
Pre-publication interview on Prisoner of the State with Bao Pu and excerpts from Zhao tapes (Radio France Internationale in English)
Alliance Introduction (profile by the democracy movement alliance; in Chinese)
News collections about Zhao Ziyang (China Digital Times)
, Zhao Ziyang died at 85 (official Chinese news agency, Xinhua News Agency)
China's Purged Chinese leader dies (CNN)
Obituary: Zhao Ziyang (BBC)
Chinese media muted on Zhao death (BBC)
Online tributes to Zhao Ziyang (BBC)
The Prisoner of Conscience: Zhao Ziyang, 1919–2005 (TIME)
Chinese Leader Purged for Supporting Tiananmen Protesters Dies at 85 (The New York Times)
China Gives Zhao's Death Scant Notice (The New York Times)
Purged Chinese Leader Zhao Ziyang Dies at 85 (The Washington Post)
Zhao's Death Puts China in Quandary (The Washington Post)
The man who came too late (The Economist)
Media Barred from Covering Death of Former Communist Leader (International Freedom of Expression Exchange)
Zhao Ziyang: The Times obituary (The Times)
Corpus of Political Speeches Free access to political speeches by Zhao Ziyang and other Chinese politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library